If you like Kate Bush or Klaus Nomi, you’ll find a lot to like with Brooklyn’s surrealist, Mexican-American, queer pop artist Felix and The Future. His new LP called Holy Hands Vol 2 came out this week, January 19. All the songs were written in Brooklyn, and recorded and co-produced in Stockholm by Ted Wennerström.

The album blends primitive, tribal images and sounds with futuristic space explorations. Felix’s videos and songs tell his story of searching Earth and chasing false idols.

If you are in the New York area, the album release party is this January 30, 2018 at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn. Special guest openers will be Will Sheridan and Dezi 5.

Maryland’s Savage Hands (Mike Garrow, Justin Hein, Ryan Evans, Nathan O'Brien, and Jonny Melton) announced that they’ve signed to SharpTone Records and will be releasing a debut EP Barely Alive this coming March 2, 2018.

SharpTone Records commented on the signing: “The moment we heard Savage Hands we were instantly hooked. They have everything we love about music; great energy, impactful lyrics and anthemic melodies which stick with you for days!! ‘Barley Alive’ is a great introduction into the rock music landscape.”

Mike Garrow from Savage Hands also add, “Ever since SharpTone became active as a label, the band as a whole was very excited to pursue a relationship which eventually led us to this point. SharpTone has an amazing team and we are very happy and proud to now be a part of the family. SharpTone has been very supportive in all our creative decisions, which is what we love the most. This type of music is who we are and something we all love. They understand that and back us 100%. We can’t thank them enough! Here’s to 2018!”

Australia trio Haiku Hands consists of Claire Nakazawa aka Chaos Emerald, Beatrice Lewis aka Beatrice, and Mie Nakazawa… although from the recent photos and album cover, it appears there is now a fourth band member.

Anyway, the group have been working with some of Australia’s finest writers and produces, such as El Gusto (Hermitude), Joelistics, Jaytee Hazard and Lewis Can Cut, Haiku Hands curate, perform and collaborate to form genre bending songs with influences from hip hop, pop, electronic, dance and disco.

Their single “Not About You” was recently voted in the top Hottest 100 on Triple J Radio.

Massachusetts’s post-hardcore quartet Holy Hands (Adam Gonsalves: Vocals/Guitar, Craig Burns: Bass, Evan White: Drums, and Ryan Parker: Guitar) released their debut record New Magnetic on Atomic Action! Records at the end of last year (December 15).
The group comprised of both past and present members of Sweet Jesus, Fiddlehead, Raindance, Fault, Supermachiner, and Daltonic.

Their label described the 10-track album as “an evolutionary leap that would make Darwin proud.” The bird artwork is by Ron Henry Wells and J.Bannon.

The 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on Saturday night, July 9th.
Opening up the show with a brief 30-min set was local Wetter, playing their third ever live show.
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The Courtneys and Jay Som’s co-headlining “You Do You Tour” stopped by the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on
March 22nd. The turnout was very good for a Wednesday night.

Local band Wetter (singer/guitarist Melissa, guitarist Joe, bassist Rose, and drummer Jordan) started the show. As previously noted, Minneapolis’ music scene is often incestuous, and the thing to note is that the lead singer/guitarist for Wetter is Melissa, who also fronts Tony Peachka.

Most of their set were songs from People You May Know, but I believe they ended their set with a new song called ‘Truth Song’.

The band recently contributed to a Split EP Nervous Breakthroughs with fellow locals Catbath, Lunch Duchess and The Chambermaids.

Canada’s trio The Courtneys (singer/drummer Jen Twynn Payne, bassist Sydney Koke, and guitarist Courtney Loove) were really excited to be back in Minneapolis. They previously opened up for Tegan & Sara at First Avenue’s mainroom (next door to the 7th Street Entry) on June 2014.

Drummer / singer Jen said that they love Minneapolis so much that she dressed all in purple, but for last week’s show, she only had her purple boots. In fact, they wanted to show their Minneapolis appreciation by writing and performing the song ‘Minnesota’ for us.

The song, as well as most of their setlist, is from their sophomore record The Courtneys II, aka the Pink Record, which the critics describe as “punk simplicity with heartfelt lyrics and good old-fashioned fun”.

San Francisco’s Jay Som closed out the night. Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte) has been in Minneapolis a few times, including July 2016 and October 2016, but this time has a headliner.... and with a debut album called Everybody Works finally out on Polyvinyl Records.
The record is so good that as soon as it came out, Pitchfork declared it as “Best New Music”.

They played those new songs, including the title track ‘Everybody Works’, ‘1 Billion Dogs’, ‘The Bus Song’, and ‘Take It’ (played early in their set).
Of course, they also included some older songs, like ‘Turn Into’, from last year’s release.

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Portugal. The Man's frontman John Gourley recall working on his seventh album, Evil Friends , as a collaboration with Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton). According to Gourley, "I walked into his [Danger Mouse] place …

Atlantic recording group Portugal. The Man is back on tour to preview some tracks from their forthcoming album Woodstock. We’ve seen the Alaska band numerous time, and each time we were wondering if they had a new album since 2013’s Evil Friends.

Singer John Gourley talked about recording the forthcoming record, “We worked with so many rad people on this album, but ended up with just the four of us in a basement at 4am trying to say something that mattered. Trying to write music that would help people feel they’re not alone, even if they’re angry or feeling lost. This video is our way of saying that we’re all in this together.”

So why the title Woodstock? Apparently, Gourley’s dad attended the original 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, and it inspired Gourley to throw out all their music they’ve been working on since 2013 and started new and fresh and exciting direction.

Jay Som is back in town. We previously saw her last October 2016 and noted that she was working on her debut record. The debut album is called Everybody Works and it is available now on Polyvinyl Records. Pitchfork called it “Best New Music”.

We’re also excited to see Vancouver’s power pop trio The Courtneys as co-headliner. The Courts previously opened up for Tegan and Sara and was in town in 2014.

The Courtneys’ second album is called The Courtneys II and it is available now via Flying Nun Records (their first non-New Zealand act).

Nashville's The Apache Relay returned to Minnesota after only a few weeks, previously supporting (Jenny Lewis at First Avenue). Singer Michael Ford, Jr. …

Other shows in the area:

03/22/17 Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes to be at Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant.
Southside Johnny has long been regarded as “the Grandfather of the New Jersey Sound”, obviously Jon Bon Jovi is a big fan.

03/22/17 Trivia for Cheaters is a fundraiser for Mid-Continent Oceanographic Institute at the Turf Club on Wednesday ... hosted by Jana Shortal.

03/23/17 Las Cafeteras is headlining Ordway Center For The Perf. Arts
(Saint Paul).
The band will also appear at College of St. Benedict & St. John's University on March 17th.

03/23/17 Airpark will be playing the 7th Street Entry. The Nashville-based duo is brothers Michael and Ben Ford, formerly of known as The Apache Relay.
Locals Lazy Scorsese to open and Daniel & The Real Feels to close out the show.

03/23/17 LoCash is headlining The Cabooze.
Michael Tyler and
Ryan Follese to open.

03/23/17 John McCutcheon will be performing at Cafe 318 in Excelsior.

03/23/17 Dirt Train, The Fontanelles, and Holy Hootenanners will be at the Turf Club in St Paul.

03/23/17 Railroad Earth will be at First Avenue. Billy Strings will open.

Local musician Monica LaPlante opened up the show, fifteen minutes fashionably late. The band was in the Halloween spirit, dressing up as a reverse Robert Palmer and his voluptuous band.

With her new album Noir available digitally (and now physically) via Hollander Records, the band is climbing up on the local radio stations, including The Current and Radio K.

Songs on her set included songs from Noir, including first song ‘Fragile’, followed by ‘Can’t Stop’, and the two radio singles ‘Hope You're Alone’ and ‘Do That To Me’.

Jay Som

San Francisco’s Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte) was next. We’re not exactly sure if the hat was part of a Halloween costume (she normally sports a red beanie, like Steve Zissou)... but she sure looked happy in the new hat.

We caught Jay Som earlier in July 2016, but this time, she is backed by a full band - giving her songs a fuller, louder sound.

Songs on her set included plenty from her new album Turn Into (a collection of songs written between March 2014-October 2015), including the intro and title song. The title song ‘Turn Into’, started fast and loud (with the full band), but slowly goes quiet as singer Melina Duterte whispery sings, “The light kisses my eyelids, as I take a short breath..”

As the song ended, you can hear Peter Hook & the Light playing ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ next door. Duterte commented, “It’s Halloween... Peter Hook is playing next door. Now we’re going to play our New Order covers!” She was only joking, of course.

The band launched into ‘Ghost’, a fitting song for the Halloween celebration. As the band ended their set, they said that this was the last night of the tour and they were so grateful to have been part of this tour. On cue, Honeyblood was in the audience (with drummer Cat Myers dressed as a ghost), ready to rock out.

Setlist

We’ve been following Scotland’s Honeyblood for a while now.
The duo, originally with Stina Tweeddale and Shona McVicar, formed in 2012, and after recording song singles, toured the USA with We Were Promised Jetpacks in February 2014. They were touring on their way to SXSW, as were most other British bands around that time of the year. We spoke with the band at SXSW 2014, and the duo seemed excited to be in the states.

By September of 2014, McVicar had left the band.
She was quickly replaced by Cat Myers, who we saw
in March 2015, and thought she fitted in quite nicely.

Myers was all in on the Halloween thing, as previously mentioned, she came on stage in that “bootiful” ghost outfit. She soon regretted it as drumming with a bedsheet over her entire body proved a little too much. She “passed on the ghost” to an audience member.

The two were so in tuned with each other’s playstyle that they immediately knew what to play next, based on hearing the first note. This can be a bad thing, as they skipped over ‘Choker’ (listed as the second song), as ‘Love Is A Disease’ was accidentally played from memory muscle.

As you can see from the setlist, most of their songs were from the new album Babes Never Die (Fat Cat Records), featuring Cat Myers on drums - so she certainly felt at ease playing those songs with her contribution.

After their West Coast appearance, the band will return to the UK to continue their tour.

New Order fans rejoice, Peter Hook & The Light will be performing New Order's third and fourth albums, Low-Life and Brotherhood for the first time in the United States and Canada across the first three weeks of November 2014.
…

Peter Hook’s last Minneapolis show at the Fine Line Music Café in November 2014 remained one of my favorite shows of that year. He played THREE sets (well technical two full sets and an extra-long “encore”), clocking in nearly a three hour set and giving diehard Joy Division and New Order fans everything they were hoping to hear.

If you are a fan of early New Order songs or classic Joy Division songs, this is the show you will want to be at.

DJ Jake Rudh of Transmission will be playing music videos before Hook’s show.

The Scottish duo Honeyblood is back in town. Although original drummer Shona McVicar is no longer in the band, I can attest that new drummer Cat Myers is just as good. They were last in town last March 2015 and apparently it was so cold that the girls wore double pants and double socks!

Honeyblood’s new album Babes Never Die is out now on Fat Cat Records.

San Francisco’s Jay Som will be joining Honeyblood on tour.
We previously caught her with Mitski in July 2016 and wrote, “The show was opened up by Jay Som from San Francisco, California. Her sweet and quiet demeanor was met with cute songs about real life events such as riding a bus. Som seemed young and her voice sounded young but it was a perfect start to the evening and the sold out crowd appreciated her quick, twenty-minute set.”

Local Monica LaPlante will open the show. She is currently the “Track of the Day” on the Current for 10/28/2016. You can grab the free song ‘Hope You’re Alone’ at thecurrent.org.

Mitski, an identity and solo project from New York, is coming to First Avenue’s side room, the 7th street entry on November 19th. I did not know about Mitski when I saw her co-headline with Elvis Depressedly ...

Mitski brought a sold out show to the 7th Street Entry on Tuesday night as she took the stage with touring mates Japanese Breakfast and Jay Som.

Jay Som

The show was opened up by Jay Som from San Francisco, California. Her sweet and quiet demeanor was met with cute songs about real life events such as riding a bus. Som seemed young and her voice sounded young but it was a perfect start to the evening and the sold out crowd appreciated her quick, twenty-minute set.

Jay Som recently announced that she has signed to Polyvinyl. Her debut album is set for release in 2017... in the meantime, she will reissue Turn Into, a collection of finished and unfinished songs written, recorded, and mixed between March 2014-October 2015. The collection is available digitally for purchase, but will also be available on vinyl, cassette and CD on November 18th.

Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast is the solo moniker for Michelle Zauner, who was the front woman of Philadelphia indie punk band Little Big League and numerous other musical groups.

The music was Japanese Breakfast seemed to be a bit more experimental than the music of Zauner’s other bands but had the energy you would want from a punk band. Zauner was joined on stage by a drummer and bassist who also did backup vocals and keyboards on some select songs.

The songs were chilling yet up-beat. At times Zauner's voice was haunting and beautiful and other times you could really hear her punk side come out as she screamed into the microphone. Her set was ended with her song about falling in love with a robot. This song really stood out due to the electronic feeling and auto-tune on Zauner's voice. It felt completely different than the rest of the set and she even got down in the crowd to jump around a bit. Although it was completely out of leftfield compared to the rest of the set, it worked and showed just how versatile Zauner could be.

Japanese Breakfast recently released Psychopomp on Yellow K Records/Dead Oceans in April of this year.

Mitski is known for being gutsy yet gorgeous when it comes to her music and that's exactly what she was as she performed on stage with nothing more than her voice, a guitar, and a drummer. She is currently on tour in support of her fourth studio album, Puberty 2, which was released on June 17th on Dead Oceans. She played songs from this album but also dug into her catalog to play some of her old songs. It was hard to tell what song was from what album due to her consistency which is a truly remarkable thing to hear.

It was hard to take your eyes off of Mitski as she sang through her set with more power than a single person should be able to have. Her music had a hint of being complicated but still understandable. It was dark but the performance of the music turned the light on it. There was a mixture of slow and fast songs. 99% of Mitski’s set was of originals but she did slip in a beautiful cover of “How Deep Is Your Love” by Calvin Harris. It was recognizable but had her own touch on the song with made it truly special and different.

Mitski, an identity and solo project from New York, is coming to First Avenue’s side room, the 7th street entry on November 19th. I did not know about Mitski when I saw her co-headline with Elvis Depressedly ...

Your Best American Girl’s Mitski is out on tour in support of her new album Puberty 2 (Dead Oceans). The tour is going swimmingly well, as you can see by the 50% sold out status of her tour.

We previously caught the “HAPA” artist (half Japanese, half American) in November 2015 and wrote, “She’s definitely got a knack for showmanship as her gloomy thematic album suggests, but I’ve now seen it confirmed repeatedly. She’s also very good at bringing an intimate set to another level with her musings and perceptions on her everyday and her personal accounts of people at their worst. Like I said before, Mitski is not just a musical project, it’s an identity.”

Opening will be singer Michelle Zauner, of Philadelphia indie punk band Little Big League, under the solo moniker of Japanese Breakfast. The music showcases Zauner's dark lyrics, unique vocals and pop melodies.

With two cassettes out already, Japaneses Breakfast will be out in support of its first full-fledged LP entitled Psychopomp. This album has a bit more of an experimental feeling that the previous releases but still contains everything you would want from a solo project from Zauner.

Jamaica’s Raging Fyah (“raging fire”) will be headlining the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis in support of their third studio album entitled Everlasting on the Dub Rockers imprint. This will be the last night before they team up with Protoje on the remainder of the US tour.

Although the tour is to promote the new album, singer Kumar Bent noted that they will mix in some familiar old Raging Fyah songs: “Our sets on this tour will feature songs from Everlasting mixed with some of our classics. Every night feels special because we feed off the energy from the crowd to create unique elements for each show.”

We’ve been writing about this all-girls punk band The Coathangers since 2007 and just love their sound. Their latest album Nosebleed Weekend was released on Suicide Squeeze Records, and with that, a new Nosebleed Summer tour.

The new album was a big departure for the band, as previously all their records were recorded in their hometown in Atlanta at The Living Room with Ed Rawls. With Nosebleed Weekend, the band found themselves in California’s North Hollywood at Valentine Recording Studios with Nic Jodoin!

Singer/guitarist Julia Kugel couldn’t contain her excitement, “The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby both recorded there! It was an amazing experience, not to mention a ghostly one too. The studio had been custom built by Jimmy Valentine and he was very protective of his passion. It sounds weird, but his spirit was there, checking in on us and f**king with us a bit.”

California’s psychedelic/punk/garage band L.A. Witch is also on the bill.
We previously caught the trio (Sade Sanchez, Irita Pai, and Ellie English) with The Kills in May 2016 and noted, “Although these guys are fairly new to the scene, their music is polished and their show is very well put together.”